Improvement in seeding-machine



` HENRY'BEAN. OFsCHUYLKILL, PENNSYLVANIA.

` Leere/r; Perea 1ro. 89,728,- zazez May 4,1sc9.

y11icrnovr:rvrnn'r IN SEEDINGMAGHINE.

.'l'liel Schedule referred to in these Letters gat'ent and n/uakng partothe same.

`To allwhcrn 'may concern.;` f

Be it known that I, HENRY BEAN, of Schuylkill, in the county of Chester,and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in SeedingMachnes; .and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had. to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, likelettersvr indicating like `parts wherever they occur. s y

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I`will `proceed to describe it. Y

My inventionconsists incertain improvements in machines used lfor sowinggrain, grass-seed, and fertil-y izers, all combined, sor separately, asdesired, the spef cial features of my improvements being hereinafterdescribed. 1 i Figure -1 is a longitudinalvertical section; Figure 2, afront view of `a portion; and Figures 3,455, 6,and.7, ar/e views `of'portions detached, and represented more in detail.

In constructing my improved machine, I make `a frame, A, of any'suitableform, but, preferably, as describedliu thepatent issued toune, October15 1867 and secure under it a barrow, B, for covering the grain,j

as therein described. .i

' Atthe front part, under the mainframe, I vsecure a triplehopper, F GH, for holding the materials to be' sown, the arrangement of :thesehoppers being shown in iig. l, the front one, F, being for grass-seed,the second one, G, forjgrain, andthe rearione, H, for

phosphates,orotheriertilizers.

In each of these'hoppers is placeda slide, for distributing, or'feeding`out the grainywhich slides are all operated by a bevelgear`-wheel, K,attached t0 one of the liearingfwheels, J, as `shown in g.12.

This Wheel K gears into a corresponding pinion, L, on'the end` of ashaft, Ir which extends from the wheel to the frontend of the machine,vandwhich shaft has,

l on itsfront end, an adjustable crank, `fr, which is connected to a'pitman, la, the opposite end of which is `screwed into a sleeve, z,pivoted at y to across-bar, l, 4 which is rigidly connected to all threeof the slides,

by bolts, in such la manner that eitherl can be disconnected atpleasure, these `featnresfbeing represented in figs. 1 and 2. l i

In order to throwthe` pinion L `in' or out of gear with the wheel K, therear end of the shaft I is mounted in a` swinging box,lpivoted atc'i,`iig. 2, and which has connected to` it a lever,'m, which extendsinward towardthe drivers seat, and has its inner end connected by acord, to one of the arms, or levers i l `C, so` that when the latter israised, the end of Ythe lever m is raised also`- thus drawing the pinionL inward, awayfrom thefwheel K, the lever mfalso passing throughanupright slotted guide-bar, shown in gIheV levers C, which servetoelevate the harrow,

` and disconnect the gearing, are connected at the front ibyracross-bailil, asin the patent heretoforealluded to, and to thiscross-bar there is pivoted a curved bar, orrod, D, yas shown in iig. 1this har passing down through ahole in the frame, and having a series ofvnotches out on its front' edge, so that, as it is raised, the notcheswill catch upon a plate, a', and thus hold.

up the levers C and'their attachments, until released by the driver.V

The hoppers Gand H are vmade of a single-box,

with a partition, a., hinged'at the bottom, at e, g. 1, and which. is`held up by buttons, f, this division a extending lengthwise the wholelength of the hoppers.

This division-board ais kept up when both hoppers are to be used, butwhen `only grain is to4 be sown, then the partition c may be turnedback, as shown in red, and, while covering the rear slide, thus increasethe size of the hopper G.

The front hopper, which is intended for grass-seed, is much smaller',and hasa series of openings in its bottorno`ver which is `placed a metalslide, It, shown Vdetached in fig. 47.

--This slide has a series of small holes, Jv, arranged in clusters ofV-shape directly over the openings in the hoppeifbottom; and it has,projecting from one edge,

a couple of arms, u, which rest upon projections, WV asshown ing. 6.- is In these a'rms u is a "series of holes, through which a pin, b',fisinserted, to hold the slide R in any required position. By shoving theslide incr out, more or less' of the holes 'u may be thrown over theopenings in the Ihopper-bottom, and thus the amount of seed sown mayberegulated at pleasure.

A reciprocating bar, d, is arranged to slide to and fro over theslide'R, for the purpose of stirring up the grass-seed, Aand feeding itthrough the holes in the'J slide. l

The grain-slide h, shownl enlarged in' fig. 4, and in section in iig. 5,consists of an iron bar, having its up- "per and'lower faces parallel,withitsedges inclined and parallel, Ias shown in iig. 5. Y In each ofthe acute-angled edges of this bar h, there is formed a series ofsemiciroular grooves, or

cups, t and t', as shown in gs. Land 5, their bottoms being inclined, asshown.

l These grooves are made in pairs, with a division, x, between them, theupper face of this division-piece a: `being depressed below the 'surfaceof the bar, as represented in iig. 5, so as to prevent it fromcrushingthe grain asit plays to and fro under the plates P.

This slide H is secured under the bottom of the hopper G by means ofplates, Q, of corresponding form, as shown in iigs. :SandY 4,theseplates being of suoha width as to cover and close both of thecells, l

when .the slide is at the centre of its movement.

. pla/53,1?, having an opening in its upper face, corresponding with theopeningsiin the hopper-bottom,

is placed over the slide, and over the plate Q, at each vpoint'wherethecells, or grooves t are formed, there being a recess in the ltop ofthis plate P for a slide to rest in, to vary the size of the opening,and thus regulate the dow of the seedfor grain.

The grooves, or cells in one edge of the slide h, are made larger thanthose in the opposite side, as shown in fig. 5, the smaller ones, t,being intended for sowing wheat andsimilar grains, While the largerones, t',

are intended for sowing oats, 85o.

The 'slide g is made in the same manner, except that it has the cellsformed in one edge only, and has a pin, i, projecting from its upperface, and extending up through the plate P into the hopper H, for stilring the fertilizer, and prevent it from becoming clogged, there being aslot formed in the rear part of the plate I? for the pin, or stirrer ito play to and fro in, as shown in fig. 3.

The manner in which these slides operate to distribute the seed' isthis:

As they are moved, and the cells come under the openings in the platesP, the cells are lled with seed, and as the slide moves on, one of thecells passes from under the plate P, and past the edge 0T plate Q, whenthe seed ws out of the cell upon the ground, the other cell being underthe opening, and being filled at the same time; and, as th'e slide movesin the opposite direction, the latter cell passes out past the `plate Q,on the opposite side, and is emptied while the first one is beingfilled, and so on alternately. v

By adjusting .the crank r on the end of shaft I, the throw, or movementof the slides may be increased or decreased at will, and by means of thescrew-thread on the end of the pitman-rod la, Where it, enters thesleeve z, the slides may be adjusted laterally, as required, to bringthe cells to the exact position required.

By these improvements, I am enabled to produce a very superior machine,adapted to all the varying Wants` ofthe farmer, so far'as sowing thevariousl kinds of grains, grass-seeds, and fertilizers, is concerned.

Having thus described my invention,

l. The seed-slide h, having the 'cells, or groovesformed in its edges,in the manner substantially as described.

2. The slide g, with the cells, or grooves, and the stirrers i,constructed'as herein set forth.

3. The slide R, prozzided with the arms-zt for adjusting the position ofthe same, and having a' series of perforations arranged. in a cluster ofV-form, for regulating the quantity of seed used, as herein described.

4. The curved rod D, constructed and arranged in connection with thelevers C, for the purpose of automatically engaging with the frame, andsupporting the levers, as the latter are raised by the operator.

5. The hinged partition a, arranged between the hoppers G and H, asshown and described.

'6. Thelever m, pivoted to the fremd-and having l the rear bearing oftheshaft I mounted thereon, so as to swing with said lever, as and for thepurpose described.

HENRY BEAN. Witnesses:

E. B. Mmm,

W. C. DODGE.

